The Forgotten and Hidden Past
by BellsoftheTreeSpirits
Summary: Sometimes things that you have trouble explaining happen as Sheena found out. One day she is single with no children to speak of, and the next day she is a mother to three and the wife of the ex-chosen. She has no idea how this happened. Neither does Zelos. Neither does everybody, it seems.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In a dark forest, slightly damp from a recent rain, a figure began to show movements after a long period of motionlessness. The figure was that of a young woman with hair the color of the darkest night, lying in an almost fetal position. Her eyes slowly flickered open to reveal a warm honey-like hue. She tried to make out her surroundings, but the forest was to dark for the moon was partially hidden behind the clouds and the trees were quite thick. She let her eyes close, and waited for her mind to defog. The woman took in the scents around her. They were not very familiar to her.

As her mind began to clear, she tried to think of reasons why she was in this not so familiar forest, but she could not come up with any. The last memory she had was doing her chiefly duty of filling out paperwork late at night in Mizuho. She let out a sigh in frustration. She had no idea where she was or why she was there. She was also exhausted, cold, and her body felt unusually heavy and strange. She was about to shift her position, but she felt something warm and small beside her. She looked at her side, and while she waited for her eyes to focus and adjust to the darkness, she felt a tiny hand grab a handful of her kimono. She gasped when she made out that the hand belonged to a child of a baby that had to be about a year old. The child was huddling close to her chest for warmth. The young woman was about to rest her hand on the child, but hesitated for a moment when she realized that the figure was too large for a child. It was deformed. She felt the figure beside her own, and she realized that the baby was not too large, nor was it deformed. A second child rested there; a child that was larger than the first.

The woman studied the children for a while wondering why they were with her and to whom they belonged. And while she was studying them, the moon came out of hiding and its light filtered through the leaves of the grand trees. With the light softly illuminating the three huddled figures, the woman noticed their hair. The older one had messy black hair that fell around his face, while the younger one had short brilliant red hair that stuck up. The hair color of the latter reminded her of someone, and then the realization hit her. She shot upwards into a sitting position, which caused a brief spell of dizziness.

"Oh my gosh!" she uttered to the wind in disbelief. The older child bore an uncanny resemblance to her with the messy black hair. "This child can't be mine. I don't have a child and I don't have a husband. I have never slept with a man." She passed her hand through her hair, and looked at the child nearer to her. "And this child. H-his hair is the same color as that stupid Chosen's" she said out loud in a slightly panicky tone.

"No, I cannot jump to conclusions. These might not be mine. It could all be a coincidence. I don't know why I have these children, but there must be a perfectly reasonable explanation." She sighed again. She let go of her hair, letting her hand full into her lap, and her hand brushed her stomach. "What?" She exclaimed in confusion and stared at her stomach with surprise. "My stomach is so large! I…I…Oh…what in the world is happening to you, Sheena Fujibayashi." She quietly and tiredly said to herself.

"Mommy, are you okay?" A little voice asked.


	2. Entering Meltokio

The moon shown softly on the sleeping Meltokio. Most of the residents were asleep in their comfortable homes or on dirty streets. Only some were still moving through the dimly lit streets at 2am, one of them being an extremely tired ninja carrying two small children.

Two days had passed since Sheena woke up in the forest, and upon seeing the appearance of the baby and later seeing the cerulean eyes of the older child, she decided to visit the ex- chosen at his mansion in Tethe'alla's capital. Sheena was swiftly moving through the quiet streets, holding the red-headed baby close to her chest. The dark haired one was securely tied to her back and his chubby arms around her neck. Usually Sheena would travel on the rooftops, but at this moment she did not trust herself to that route. She had three children to carry, and one of them really was offsetting her balance.

Sheena was deep in thought, thinking of all possible scenarios to explain what happened to her and the appearance of the three children and thinking of what to say to Zelos. Even though two days had past, she was still in a state of panic and utter confusion. She had no idea what was going on, and she was exhausted because of the fast pace she put herself to combined with being pregnant. She was never pregnant before, but she guessed she had to be about five months in. Seriously, how could she be pregnant for five months without knowing? How could she have two children, the oldest being about three, without knowing? Soon after noticing the large stomach she had, Sheena had noticed a beautiful, simple gold ring on her ring finger. How could she be married without knowing? Sheena kept asking these questions and entertaining these thoughts over and over, which now resulted in a large headache.

"Mommy," a tiny voice interrupting her thoughts began, "where are we going? I'm tired and hungry. Do you have food, okaasan?"

"No, Sen, I don't, but we are almost to a place that does" she answered. She didn't know how she knew the boy's name, but ever after the dawn of that first day she met them, she knew exactly what to call him, which slightly troubled her. She also knew that the baby boy in her arms was named Yuuto, a Mizuhoen name that Zelos favored.

A few minutes later she arrived in front of her destination, sweaty and ready to collapse. Knowing Sebastian would be asleep, the ninja made her way to the back of the mansion, where she also saw that no light came from Zelos's room. She gave a sigh out of both frustration and tiredness, and then walked to one of the back doors, unlocking it with a pin. When inside she made her way to a back staircase, went up the stairs, and went to the room she usually resided in when she used the ex-Chosen's mansion as an inn. Once inside of the room Sheena closed the door and walked to the bed. She set Yuuto on the bed, and arranged pillows and blankets so as to make the sleeping baby comfortable. She then sat on the bed and untied the cloth she used to keep Sen secure to her. She laid the now sleeping boy so his head was on one of the various pillows, took off his tiny shoes, and pulled the covers over him. Before going to bed herself, Sheena first opened the window and turned on the fan. Then she removed her straw sandals and tabi and haori. Finally she collapsed onto the bed, and she loosely wrapped the children in her arms.

"Now, don't wake up you two," she whispered, "not until morning, especially you, Yuuto." She kissed them on their foreheads, and let sweet sleep carry her off.


	3. Telling the Father

The sun shone brightly through the lightly curtained windows and onto the still figures in the bed. Sheena carefully opened her eyes, and as if knowing that Sheena just woke, Yuuto began to squirm and then proceeded to cry.

Frantically, Sheena sat up and picked up the crying baby. "Shh, shh now. Please don't do that," she said as she slid her kimono off her left shoulder. She brought the child to her breast to let him feed. She grimaced as the baby latched on at first, but soon it became more comfortable, and he was quieted.

"Oh, I am not used to this, "she sighed. Because of the cries of his younger brother, Sen stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing Sheena farther away from him then he wanted, he crawled closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Okaasan, I'm hungry too," he said. "Can we have breakfast? I want some okayu."

Sheena stroked his head and in a motherly voice answered, "Don't worry. You'll get some breakfast soon. There is a lot of food here." She looked straight ahead of her at the mirror on the opposite wall. "Ugh, but first we are taking a bath. I look awful."

"Okay," Sen sleepily said. He rested his head by her, and waited for her.

When Yuuto finished his breakfast, Sheena carried him and had Sen follow her to the bathroom that was adjoined to the bedroom, and the three of them enjoyed a relaxing bath. After the bath, Sheena sought out the fresh clothes Zelos always had stocked for his seven friends. She picked out a plain light blue kimono from her closet, and after dressing, she turned to the two boys who were back on the bed, "Okay, let's get some, Sen." Sen hurriedly jumped off the bed and hovered around Sheena like a cat while she picked up his baby brother.

Upon leaving the bedroom she saw Sebastian about to go downstairs. "Sebastian," she called. He turned around with a slightly surprised look. "Oh, Miss Fujibayashi, I was not aware that you were here. Would you like me to make you some breakfast this morning?"

"I would love some," she answered, "but I must first talk to Zelos. Is he awake?"

"As of a minute ago, yes," the butler replied.

"That's great!" Sheena started to head to Zelos's room, but then hesitated and turned back to Sebastian. "Umm, can you take Sen down to get some breakfast, and, uh, take care of Yuuto for a little bit."

"Yes, ma'am," he said after a moment of hesitation. Sheena put Yuuto in the trustworthy butler's arms, and Sebastian with a confused look took Sen's hand and went down the staircase.

Upon their leave, Sheena resumed heading to Zelos's door and knocked on it when she reached it.

"Zelos!" she called. "Can I come in?" Upon hearing no answer, the ninja groaned and impatiently opened the door. Inside the room the bed was empty, and Zelos was nowhere to be seen.

"Now where is that-"She started, but was interrupted by the noise of a flushing toilet, from the adjoined bathroom. Soon later the bathroom door opened and out stepped the man in baggy pants and a loose shirt. He yawned and ruffled his messy bright red hair, not noticing the woman ahead of him.

"Now, there you are you idiot!" she exclaimed.

Zelos stopped and starred at shock at Sheena. "What are you doing-", he paused as his gaze lowered to her bulging stomach underneath her kimono. "Oh, don't tell me that's mine! I swear I don't remember anything!"

Suddenly feeling all the exhaustion despite the sleep she had received, Sheena walked over to a comfortable armchair and plopped down. She rested her elbow on the armrest and supported her tired head. "I don't remember anything; I don't know anything," she wearily uttered.

Stunned by this display, Zelos came in front of her, knelt down, and in a concerned voice he asked, "Sheena, are you all right? What's happening?"

"Honestly Zelos, I have no idea," she said, tears starting to form. "I have no idea what is going on. I woke up in the middle of the forest, and I had two kids with me, I was pregnant, and I'm supposedly married!" She exasperatedly said as she held up her hand, showing him the ring. "But I don't remember any of this!" Her hand flopped back down.

"Okay, that's weird. Just some months ago when I last saw you, you weren't married, or had any kids, or were expecting any."

"I know, I know. That's why I'm so confused. So..so…scared." She said, the tears now sliding down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey." Zelos tried to think of something comforting, but he could think of nothing. He was really scared for her. She hardly ever displayed such a weakened state in front of him, or in front of anybody for that matter. After a few moments, he enveloped her hand with his. "Sheena, I am touched and all, but why did you come to me?"

Sheena lifted up her head to look at with her red, teary eyes, her hand supporting her forehead. "Because the older boy has your eyes, and the younger one is like a baby-you. He has the same exact bright red hair."

"Woah, woah, woah!" He said, surprised, and he backed away from her. "Don't tell me that whatever kids you're talking about are mine also. I don't know anything about this."

"Well, does it look like I do?" she snapped back at him. "I'm in the same situation as you!"

Zelos regained some of his composure and sat cross-legged in front of her. "Okay, okay," he thought, "this is all just a weird dream. Sheena is not here in my bedroom telling me that I'm the father of her children that popped out of nowhere. No, no. I'm just dreaming, that's all."

"Hey, Zelos!" Sheena said, regaining Zelos's attention. "Please don't go silent like that. I need some answers. I need you to explain this to me."

Now Zelos was becoming really frightened for her. She was pretty much begging him. She never did that. She also never said 'please' to him. He had no idea what to say to her, but he didn't want her to continue crying in front of him. "Honestly, hunny, I have no idea what to say. This is all news to me." Stealing a look at Sheena told him that he was not helping so far. "I-I, um…wait! You said you were supposedly married, right?" he said, his sudden increase in volume grabbing Sheena's attention.

"I, uh, yeah," she mumbled, "I said that."

Zelos leaped up and rushed to his dresser. "I found this ring here some days ago!" he said, and he pulled a small object from one of the drawers and returned in front of the solemn woman. "Here, look, I think these are Mizuhoen characteristics on it." He grabbed her hand, and put the ring in it so she could look at it. Sheena held it up and looked at it with interest.

"I was kind of thinking that it was weird that I had a ring like this, but I really didn't think much of it." He said. "I thought maybe you left it here for some odd reason. I didn't know why, but I wasn't going to let it pester me.

"Now, why would I leave a man's Mizuhoen wedding ring in your room?" she asked, then she looked straight at him. "How many days ago did you find this?'

"Uhh, let's see, three days ago."

"That has to be the same day I woke up in the forest." She put her head back on her hand. "So you've never seen it before?"

"Uh, no," he replied.

"Well, I'm thinking that it has to be yours. The ring on my finger I've never seen it before, but it was there when I woke," she said and showed him the ring again. "It looks like a wedding ring to me, and why else would it be on my ring finger if I wasn't married?"

"So, if you're saying that ring is mine, then we are married," remarked Zelos. He angled his face away from her, but viewed her from the corner of his eye. "Hmm, I don't mind that, but I wish I remembered the marriage."

At this, a hint of a blush appeared on Sheena's still tear-stained face.

Zelos observed the blush and grinned. "Oh, do I detect you blushing at the idea of us being married."

Her face reddened even more, and she crossed her arms and looked away. "Shut up." This exhibit only made him laugh.

After Zelos's laughter subsided, and Sheena's face began to regain its original color, Zelos asked, "So…where are these kids? They're mine too, right?"

"I pretty much told you already that they are, and they're down in the kitchen," she responded.

Zelos wrapped his arm around Sheena and pulled her out of her chair and close against him. "Wow, so I wake up one day and I'm married to my voluptuous hunny and have children of my own!' he proclaimed n a sing-song voice. "It's not as bad as I previous thought."

"Get off," she said and shoved him away. Stumbling backwards, Zelos fell onto his bed.

"Hey now, hunny," he complained, "don't push you're dear-ole husband away."

"Zelos, this isn't a game!"

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But, look! You hardly look like you were crying anymore!" He pointed to her face.

A look of astonishment appeared on her face, but was replaced with a shy smile, when she realized that he was only trying to distract her from her worrying. Suddenly, a rumbling sound was heard and a couple of moments passed by.

"Um, hunny, why don't you join the kids in the kitchen," he suggested. "I think you're hungry."

"Yeah, that sounds good," she agreed, her face showing her embarrassment.

"Okay, now go!" ordered Zelos and he started to nudge her towards the door. "I'll come and join you in a minute."

"Okay, okay. I don't need you to push me out!"

"Or do you want to stay in here with me," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I believe I hear you hinting that you don't want to leave my bedroom."

"Oh shut up, I was not! I'm leaving, okay!" and she rushed out of the room.

Zelos watched her go, and after she left, he quickly changed, put his hair into a ponytail, and then followed her down. When he came into the kitchen, he was greeted by an excited three-year-old. "Otosan!" the boy called out, and hugged Zelos's legs.

"Oh, hey there, " he nervously chuckled and stooped down to pat the boy's head. "The boy does look like Sheena, and, wow! He does have my eyes!" he thought. Zelos picked up the boy and placed him back in front of his unfinished pancakes. He then noticed the one-year-old,who was happily stuffing small bites of sicky pancakes in his mouth, and a surprised look came across his face. The baby did have his red hair.

"Hey, you might want to change your shirt," Sheena pointed out, her mouth now filled with pancake goodness. "There is syrup all over it now."

Zelos looked down, and sure enough, he could see sticky fingerprints on his clean white shirt. "I'll get that later," he said and he sat on the stool next to Sheena at the counter, and began to eat the pancakes Sebastian set in front of him. After consuming a few forkfuls of pancakes, he leaned over to the eating woman and whispered, "So what are their names?"

"You mean you don't know?" she whispered back. After seeing his confused expression, she explained. "I somehow knew their names, so I was just wondering if you somehow knew them too. The dark-haired one is Sen and the redheaded is Yuuto."

"Hey, I like that name!" Zelos said.

"Yeah, I know you do. That makes this whole thing a bit weirder than it already is." Sheena bent closer to the baby's stool and cut more pieces of pancake for him.

"Wow, he must be hungry!" Zelos observed after seeing piece after piece enter the baby's sticky mouth.

"Yeah," agreed Sheena, who kept her focus on feeding the red-headed child. "He also even had some of my milk this morning."

"You mean…breast milk?" Zelos asked tentatively.

"Well, yeah."

"Oh, okay." And he continued eating his meal.


	4. Arrival of an Old Friend

When they finished breakfast, Zelos went back to his room to change into a fresh shirt, and Sebastian cleaned the hands and faces of the two boys. Meanwhile, Sheena made a list for some baby products she needed so that Sebastian could purchase them. When Sheena finished the list, she handed it to the butler, and before he exited the kitchen he turned around and said, "I do believe, ma'am, that the baby needs his diaper changed. Do you want one of the maids to do so?"

Sheena looked at Yuuto and hesitantly replied, "Uh, no, I'll do it. Thank you, Sebastian." With that he nodded and left. Sheena turned back to the smiling baby, who was holding his arms out to her. She went over and picked him up. She would have returned his smile if it wasn't for the horrible scent that reached her nose. She scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Mommy, I think he needs diaper changed," a tiny voice by her legs said.

"Yes, thank you, dear. I noticed."

So she made her way back to her room with Sen in tow. Luckily, along with her belongings she found cloth diapers and wipes. In the hallway she saw Zelos and a maid close behind him. "Hey, hunny! Jill here found a train set. And did you know that train tracks are being laid down from here to all around the world!" Noticing her look of disgust, he stopped and asked, "Is everything all right?" But he needed no answer when he smelled the reek coming from Yuuto's diaper. "Oh my gosh! What the- is that the baby?"

"Yes, now I really need to get to my room," Sheena said with a tone of urgency, and she quickly walked the rest of the way into the room.

"Do you want my assistance, ma'am?" called the maid, but Sheena was already in her bathroom and couldn't hear her. Instead, Zelos told her it was fine and to go on her way, while he took the train set from her arms. He grabbed Sen's hand and went into Sheena's bedroom. He saw the slightly cracked door of the bathroom and looked at his son, who was trying to grab at his arms. "Do you think we should help mommy?"

Sen shook his head. "No, I want to play with the twain!"

"Yes, I agree, that's a much better idea." And Zelos sat on the carpeted floor and played with Sen until Sheena came out.

"Ah, you smell so much better now!" exclaimed the now happy ninja, who had her face buried into the laughing baby's belly. Seeing Zelos and Sen playing with the train, Yuuto squirmed to get out of his mother's arms. Not wanting to resist the boy and his desires, she set him on the ground, where he crawled over to his brother.

With Sen having a new playmate to "help" set out the tracks, Zelos got up and motioned Sheena to follow him. They went to the far side of the room by the windows. In hushed voices they continued their earlier discussion.

"So, did you come up with any more ideas?" Zelos asked.

"No, none," replied Sheena, who was still observing her children at play.

"The best idea I've come up with is that everybody's minds were wiped," Zelos said. "Nobody remembers that we are married and have children. Not Sebastian, not any of my maids. I assume that nobody in the whole world remembers, well, except Sen and Yuuto."

Now, looking at Zelos, Sheena said," Yeah, but that still doesn't make sense. Until now, all of our memories are us being away from each other, single, and not having any children. You would think there would be some major gaps in our memories. If we were married and a family for, let' s say, five years, then most of our memories would have been made with all of us in them."

Zelos put his hand to his chin. "Yeah, that's true. Maybe we did all just somehow forget, and somebody or something altered everyone's memories."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Sheena exasperatedly asked, throwing her hands in the air. "All it is doing is making us confused!"

Zelos put his arms on her should, hoping to calm her down, as he saw that she was becoming angry and irritated. "Well, that's probably what was supposed to happen, hunny. We probably pissed something off, and this is its way of getting back at us."

Sheena brushed Zelos's hands off her shoulders and crossed her arms. A worried expression shone on her face, which was also becoming drawn. "I just- ugh!" She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. Zelos was about to say something again, but Sheena relaxed her face and reopened her eyes to look at him. "Well, my best bet is that I go to Mizuho to find some answers. Obviously if we lived somewhere it was there, and maybe somebody knows something there. Maybe they remember about us."

Well, if we have a possibility of finding answers there then why are you worried?" he asked.

"Oh, Zelos," she said with a bit of a hollow laugh, "you don't know much about Mizuho do you?" She let out a long sigh and looked away from him. "I'm worried because I'm not sure how they will react to me going back suddenly married and with children. I don't even know if we got married. For all I know, we are just wearing rings on our ring fingers. We could have had these children out of wedlock. And if I had these children out of wedlock, well, I don't think you want to know what would happen to me. At best, I will just be ostracized, even though I am the chief!"

'Oh," was all Zelos could say at first, but trying to look on the brighter side, he said," First of all, let's just accept that we are married. I did have that Mizuhoen man's wedding ring in my room. Secondly, you don't know that they'll do that! They must have just seen you this week, considering the lack of supplies you had with you. They know that a woman can't be, what, five months pregnant in that given time." He grabbed her chin, and lifted it up to his level. "So, you'll be fine."

Sheena gave him a soft smile, took his hand from her chin, held it a moment, and then stared at the ground. "Yeah, you're right. But I can't be sure of much right now. I'm being just a little paranoid, I guess." Now the boy's chatter caught her attention, and she turned to stare at them. They were completely oblivious to what was going on, and happily continued on with their lives. Of course, she expected Yuuto to be oblivious, but she also thought that Sen might catch wind of it. She continued to observe them as their track grew larger around them. Seeing that the conversation was over for now, Zelos joined her on her observation. They both silently watched them until Zelos broke the silence. "Do you think we should get them more toys? I know kids love them, and there aren't really any around here."

Sheena looked at him. "What if they already have a lot in Mizuho? We might spoil them too much."

"Come on Sheena. What if they don't? Anyway, I have plenty of money."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you want them to have more toys so you could play with them?"

"What! No," he replied putting his hands up defensively. "Where'd that idea came from."

"Sureee," she teased and she gave him a little nudge. "Well, if we are getting them more, only one of us will do the shopping. And I think I'm the better candidate."

"What? I'm not letting you out there by yourself. Look at you! You're pregnant!"

"So? It's not like I'm suddenly useless and defenseless. Do you think I'll fall down and not be able to get back up?" she retorted. She crossed her arms, and gave him a haughty look. "I think I'm quite capable of this mission, Zelos Wilder."

Zelos gave her puppy dog eyes. "Why can't we both go, Sheena Wilder? It'll be family time."

"Do you really think it's a good idea for both of us to show up in public together like this? We are still getting used to being a family and trying to figure it out. We don't need all of Meltokio trying to with us." Sheena went over to where the children were, and with some difficulty she bent down to pick up Sen. Zelos tried to help her, but she just swatted his hands away. Upon picking him up she said with a big smile, "It'll just be me and Sen!" And she gave him a big kiss on the cheek, which sparked some envy within Zelos. She looked back at the envious man. "You stay here with Yuuto. I can't take him out because he looks too much like you. I just want to be careful."

Zelos crossed his arms and turned slightly away, a pouty look on his face. "Fine, I'll hang out with Yuuto. " And he picked the baby up. But then Yuuto began to cry, so he put him right back down so that he could continue playing with the train on the tracks. At this display, Sheena laughed, and Zelos, though a bit hurt, ignored her. "I guess I should grab you some gald then. Oh, and I'll write down some toy shops and their addresses. "He started towards the door and made it around the corner when he popped his head back in the doorway. "Are you sure you'll be okay? I don't want you to get too fatigued."

"Yes, Zelos, I'll be fine," she assured him. With that he said okay and left. With him gone, she put down Sen, and replaced him with Yuuto. He resisted at first, but with the train still in his hands he calmed down, and ran the train up and down his mother's arm. She took a hold of Sen's hand and led him downstairs to the living room where she set Yuuto back on the floor and by the couch.

"Okaasan, what are we doing?" piped up her dark haired son.

"We two are going shopping," she said as she smiled at him. "Does that sound okay?"

"For ice cream?" he asked back.

She began rubbing his head. "Well, we can if you want. For now, you can play with your brother for a tiny bit longer, okay?"

"Okay," Sen said with not much enthusiasm. But after a quick ruffle of his hair, he did what his mother told him to and continued playing with his brother.

While Sheena waited for Zelos to grab the gald and the list, she observed the two boys playing with the train set that Sebastian found somewhere in the mansion. The two boys with their cute faces and actions made her smile, but while she watched them, a sudden realization came to her which wiped away the smile and reddened her face considerably. She realized what she had to have done with Zelos in order to conceive the two children in front of her and the one who still resided within her.

"Hey, you okay there, hunny?" said a voice that startled her. "Are you too warm or something?"

"Umm, no, no, I'm fine!" she quickly answered. She was surprised he didn't ask her a different question for why her face was red, but she was happy he didn't.

"You know, hunny, it's sad that we don't have any memories before this," Zelos said. "We don't remember our dates we must of had, our proclamations of love to each other, "he began to grin, "our kisses, our marriage, Sen's birth, Yuuto's birth, all the happy family memories together," then his grin grew even wider, and Sheena knew she wasn't going to like what came next, " all the times we must have seen each other naked and had s-"

"Just don't, Zelos," Sheena said to cut him off, her face even a deeper red. "Just don't say anything more, okay." She repressed the urge to slap him and to use stronger, harsher language in front of the children.

"Well, it's true!" Zelos exclaimed bringing his hands up.

"But it doesn't have to be said, nor do those thoughts have to be entertained," she retorted.

"Fine, fine," he huffed and he handed her the bag of money and the list. "Have a nice time shopping with this little guy." He patted Sen's head when he came up to his parents.

"Yes, honey," she said as she turned to leave.

"Wait, what did you just say" asked Zelos.

"What?'

"You just called me 'honey'."

"I-I did?" she stammered and her face, which was just its normal color a moment ago, regained the red hue. "No, there is no way I would have called you that!"

"Oh, yes you did! I heard you say it" Zelos happily said.

"Well, if I did, it must have just slipped out. I must have called you that when I actually knew I was married to you," she huffed. She grabbed Sen's hand, who was staring confusedly at them, and led him to the door. "Let's go, Sen. Let's get you and your brother some toys." She grabbed the handle of the door, yanked it open, and almost ran into a very surprised Raine Sage, or Raine Arks as she is called now, who was just about to knock on the very door that was abruptly opened with much force by a very irritated ninja.

"Oh, hi, Raine," she politely said. Her gaze then went down to her friend's side where a little girl of almost three with spiky silver hair and green eyes stood. "And hi Kyrie."

"Hello, Sheena, "Raine said back," I didn't expect to see you here, or to see you o…pen..the.." Raine's voice trailed off when she saw Sheena's large stomach and a miniature Sheena-like face staring up at her.

"Auntie Raine," happily exclaimed Sen. He ran up to her and tightly hugged her legs, as he did to Zelos earlier that morning. "And Kyri!" he said with big smile spread across his face. To her he politely bowed in the Mizuhoen style.

"Hi, Sen!" Kyrie replied while she ran to and tightly hugged him.

"Um, Sheena, who is this boy and how does my daughter know him?" quietly inquired the professor.

"He's Sen, and he supposedly is my son."

"Supposedly? And are you pregnant?"

'Yes, and yes I am"

"Okay…I just saw you less than a month ago, and, well, you were single and had no children."

"Hello my cool beauty!" interrupted the ex-chosen's voice. "Come join the confused and ignorant people club!"

"Uh, yes, why don't you come inside." Sheena stepped back inside taking Sen with her.

Once inside the living room another look of surprise came upon Raine's face, when she saw the bright red hair of Yuuto who was sitting on the floor, playing with the train still. "Is that yours too?" she asked while pointing at the baby, who was deeply engrossed with moving the train back and forth. "Yours and Zelos's?"

"Yes, he is also ours," replied the ninja. "His name is Yuuto."

Raine was utterly confused, and her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish. "I-I don't understand. Can someone please explain this to me? I've known that you two have liked each other for a long time now, but that does not explain all of this!"

"What?!" Sheena and Zelos exclaimed in unison.

"Uh, never mind, forget I just said that last part," Raine stated half-mindedly, still focused on Sen and Yuuto.

While Raine was trying to process what was going on, Sen was pulling on Sheena's sleeve and pestering her for ice cream. "Please, Okaasan! I wan ice cweam!" And Sheena, who didn't want to explain everything again, or think about it anymore, slowly started to edge towards the door. "Zelos, you can do the explaining, while I take Sen shopping before he pesters me to death. Okay?"

"Hey, Sheena!"

"Mommy, can Kyri come too?" asked Sen as his mother was pulled him out the door.

"No," replied Raine curtly, and she pulled Kyri close next to her. Her answer didn't matter anyway because Sheena and Sen were already gone.

"But, mom!" Kyrie whined.

"No," came Raine's short answer again, and she turned to look at Zelos. "Now, Zelos, can you please explain to me what is going on."

Zelos let out a sigh, and he indicated for her to sit in one of the armchairs.


	5. Time with Sen

Upon leaving the house, Sheena gave a big sigh of relief. She was happy to be on this little escapade with her older son. She took Sen's hand and led him into the shadows of the buildings where they could mostly escape the notice of the nobles. They traveled this way until they reached the streets in the middle-class portion of Meltokio. Here, Sheena breathed easier. She hated being in the noble section where she had to breathe the same air as the many nobles who despised her. Here in the middle-class she could enjoy the beautiful fall day. The sky was mostly clear and a faint breeze brushed the inhabitants. The temperature was also wonderful. It was not too warm, nor too cold. The perfect weather created the false impression of a perfect day, though. But Sheena was glad that the weather was nice, for it distracted her from the confusing situation she was suddenly in as of three days ago. Though she didn't like becoming a mother and wife so unexpectedly and without her knowledge, she felt joy at having her two boys and the baby that was on its way. Part of her also didn't mind that Zelos happened to be her husband and the father of her children, but right now she was going to focus on the children and their needs, for they needed her more than Zelos did.

Since the day was so pleasant, a large percentage of Meltokio's occupants were in the streets. And not just the occupants were in the streets, but so were travelers from all over the world, creating an interesting and varied group of people to see. Sheena saw how Sen looked about him in awe. His blue eyes were wide and never stopped looking at his surroundings. But she could tell the giant mass of people intimidated him because of how closely he clung to her already when she would go to pull him closer to her. He'd probably never been in Meltokio before, at least not recently. Sheena envied his unending curiosity and interest in Tethe'alla's capital. She, long ago, gained mixed feelings for this place, and now never could look at it in the way Sen did. She didn't hate this city. There were quite a few things she liked. But then there were the stares and sneers of those who recognized who she was or at least where she hailed from. Sheena saw some of these looks from the surrounding people, and she tried to ignore them as she usually did, but maybe it was because she had another who fell into her category that she had to protect that those stares and sneers affected her more. Because of them her gait became quicker, for she wanted to get away from them, but she also forgot that the boy who clutched her hand was only three.

"Kaasan!"he called, and Sheena looked at her elder son tugging at her kimono.

"Yeah?" She said, not yet noticing his effort to keep up with her.

"Can you cawwy me?" he asked, his breathing hard. "You're too fast."

A pang of guilt past through her when she realized how fast she was walking and how tired he looked. She marveled at the fact that he somehow did keep up with her fast pace. She quickly apologized and led him over to side of the road where she squatted to let him climb on her back. "There, is that better?"

"Yeah, he answered, and he rested his head against her and encircled her neck with his arms.

The mother and child pair continued on amidst the loud bustle of the streets. The mother searched for the sign of a toy shop, and the child resumed watching the passing people. While watching, he caught the same stares and steers his mother wished to avoid.

"Okaasan," he said quietly.

"Hai, bouya?" Sheena replied as she expertly weaved through the crowd.

"Why do people stare and give us mean looks?" Sen asked. Sheena's heart literally skipped a beat at his question. She'd hoped he wouldn't notice. She also hoped that by the time she had children, people wouldn't discriminate so much against her and her people. But only in dreams could discrimination disappear so quickly, it seemed. Sheena tried to conjure an answer that wouldn't so bluntly state the truth, but she couldn't. Rather, she would tell him out straight. "Because, Sen, they see us Mizuhoens, as different, too mysterious, and that makes us a threat in their eyes. So to make themselves feel more powerful, they look down upon us and give us those looks of hatred as though we are rats."

Sen hugged her more tightly. "Well, I don't like them back."

"It's hard to like people like that, isn't it," she said, her voice soft. "But let's not try to make them hate us even more. Just ignore them, and treat them respectively as you would to anyone. At least to their faces!" She joked with a light laughter.

When she said this, they finally reached a toy shop called "The Carpenter's Inventions for Children". As most the shops that day, this stone shop had its door propped open, welcoming customers inside. When inside she let Sen down onto the wooden floor of the well-lit store. It was filled with a numerous selection of toys, many wooden, but also many made from fabric. Only a few customers were in and looking at the selection, so the store was greatly quieter than the world outside. Sheena walked around and tried to finds toys that she thought Yuuto may enjoy the most. She needn't bother look for Sen, as he was doing plenty of the looking for himself. She saw many dolls, wooden, clothe, and some porcelain. She also saw many wooden figurines of warriors, princesses, animals, monsters, and unusual creatures, and doll houses and miscellaneous toys. She noticed that the toys came all over the combined worlds of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. Toys from Flanoir, Palmacosta, Altamira, the Katz Village, Asgard, Ozette, and, she gasped in surprise, Mizuho. At least these toys were similar to the ones found in Mizuho. Mizuho hardly ever sold their merchandise outside of the village. While she searched through the toys in this section, the shop keeper came by her.

"I see you fancy this section lady," he said in a gruff but kind voice. "These are based off of toys made in the ninja village, Mizuho." Seeing Sheena's garments, he added, "Hey! You look right out of Mizuho yourself. Folks say that they dress differently. In robes they do. Like bathrobes. People see the ninjas in Meltokio from time to time."

Sheena smiled at his little knowledge of her home. She put a hand to her hip, and proudly said, "Yeah, I'm from Mizuho."

"Oh, so you are! Well I'm honored to see you here, ma'am," he said politely. "And I see you have a little one on the way. I've got great toys for babies. Here, let me show you." And Sheena followed him as he showed her toy after toy. After she picked out what she wanted for Yuuto and was at the counter ready to pay, she called for Sen.

"Oi, Sen. You ready?" she called.

"Yeah!" she heard him call back. The sound of his straw-sandaled feet could be heard running towards her.

"Is that all you want?" she asked him when she saw that he only had one thing. It was a stuffed animal fox that she had seen in the Mizuho section. It was fluffy and plushy, and its legs were set far enough apart so that it was easily and comfortably huggable.

Sen hugged it tightly and happily said, "Yup, jus dis one!"

"Okay," and she took out coins to pay for the purchases, while the shop owner bagged all of them except Sen's fox. After that one toyshop, Sheena and Sen enjoyed a bowl of pasta at a restaurant close by. And after their messy lunch, she showed him some of Meltokio's delights until they found an ice cream stand. She set Sen on a bench close by and had him wait for as she went to buy some ice cream. After taking several moments thinking, she decided on just getting them both plain vanilla, so she paid for them and brought the two cones back to the bench where Sen was impatiently waiting. Sheena handed the boy his cone, while first telling him to move his fox to the side so it wouldn't be dripped on, and they happily licked away at their ice cream. By the time she finished the last bit of hers, Sen was only half way done, and he never got to finish his. A big man came right up to them, and he knocked Sen's cone to the ground. "Go back to where you belong you Mizuhoen rats," he bellowed. Sen couldn't respond to him. He stared at his empty hands, and then to the splattered ice cream at his feet. Sheena, though, did not let this slide. She bolted up and grabbed the man's collar and began pushing him backwards. When a safe distance away from her saddened son, she shoved him back. He stumbled a distance and fell on his big bottom. Now he was really angry, but not as angry as Sheena was. He sat up, and gave the ninja an ugly look. "I'm not going to fight a pregnant woman," he said.

"Oh? But you would childishly knock ice cream from a boy's hands!" And she taunted him forward with her hands, a scary smile on her face.

With a roar he rushed towards her. Sheena forgot to calculate the couple extra pounds she carried, so as the man came by her, his large ring scratched her face. Other than that she was unscathed as she stepped out his way, and put her foot out so that he tripped. His face slammed right into the ground along with the rest of his body. Some of the people who gathered to watch laughed at the spectacle. Now humiliated, he struggled to his feet and turned towards Sheena, who wore a smug expression. He rushed towards her again, the grounding shaking as his heavy feet slammed to the ground with each step. While the burly man came closer to her, Sheena spread her feet apart and bent slightly forward. Upon him reaching her, Sheena sidestepped a little again, but this time she snatched her opponent's arm, flipped him, and slammed him to the cobbled ground, causing a cry of shock and pain to emanate from his open mouth. Now feeling totally humiliated at being so beaten by a pregnant woman, he scurried off into the crowd without looking back. Sheena's mouth was curled in an unhumble smile, and she wiped her hands at her handiwork. The spectators laughed and clapped for her before resuming what they were previous doing. During this whole fight, Sen gaped in horror as his pregnant mother took on such a large opponent, but as she came back with a smile plastered to her face, he gazed in admiration. "Wow, Mom! You destwoyed him!" He stood up on the bench and gave her the biggest hug that he could muster when she came to him. She laughed, hugged him back, and ruffled his disheveled head of black hair. He pulled his head away a bit to look up at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "I thought we were supposed to be nice, Mom."

Sheena blinked, and then her grin grew larger. She pulled him closer, and replied, "Well, I made an exception." And she pulled apart and ruffled his hair again."Now let's go home. We've done enough for today."

Sen hopped down from the bench and took his mother's hand. And soon with a new ice cream cone in his hand that Sheena took the liberty of stealing a few licks from, they took a long way home.


	6. The Professor

**I feel as though I must do some explaining. In my story Raine married to a half-elf named Emery Arks, and he works at the lab in Sybak as a scientist. They have a pair of twins: Orion, who's a boy, and Kyrie, who's a girl. The twins have green eyes and spiky silver hair (Kyrie's hair is a bit longer than her brother's). Raine now works as a professor in Sybak and lives there with her family.**

**And I'll give you additional information: **

**Lloyd and Colette are married and live in Iselia. Right now they have a son named Roland, who has short and spiky light brown hair and brown eyes, and a daughter named Eden, who has blonde hair and blue eyes like her mother. **

**Regal is not married, but he did adopt a young girl named Lucia, who has lavender hair and dark purple eyes.**

**And there is Genis and Presea. I don't feel like explaining what I did for them right now. I'll mention it later. **

During the time Sheena and Sen were away, Zelos told Raine everything that he could. He told her about Sheena waking up in the forest with children, about the wedding rings, and so on. While he fed her this information, Raine gave her full attention and listened to his words intently. By the time he finished, Kyrie, who was in the corner on a cushion looking at a book filled with illustrations of the night sky, and Yuuto, who soon became bored with the train and, with the help of Zelos, climbed onto Zelos's lap, were both asleep. It only took so long because Raine was persistent he tell her everything.

After taking a moment to think over what Zelos had said, Raine remarked, "You're and Sheena's situation is quite interesting. I've never heard anything like it. Honestly, I don't know what to tell you."

"You can tell me if Lloyd and the others know about Sheena and me," Zelos said.

"No, I don't believe they do, "she answered, shaking her head. "I just saw Genis yesterday, and Lloyd and Colette a week ago, and I don't think that they know."

"So, no one knows, huh?" he muttered, and he wiped a hand though his hair.

"Hey, I'll be right back," Raine said after looking behind at her sleeping daughter. She stood up, went to where she lie, and scooped her up into her arms. She then proceeded up the stairs to claim the room where she usually took up residence. Inside the room, she took off Kyrie's shoes and laid her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. Before leaving, she kissed her sleeping daughter on the cheek.

"So how's Emery and Orion?" asked Zelos when Raine came back. "It's weird to see Orion and Kyrie separated."

"Oh Emery's working back at the lab like usual and Orion is being taken care of by Genis," she replied. "And I don't know about Orion, but Kyrie's doing fine now. At first, though, it was hard to get her going because she wouldn't leave without him, but I eventually got her to move. Anyway, enough about me, how are you two taking this…situation?"

"I have to say, Sheena is doing quite well now. When I first saw her, she was all panicky and looked as though she would collapse right in front of me. She seems relatively calm now."

"And you, what about you Zelos?"

"Me? Well, I'm still confused like heck, but I do find this enjoyable. Sheena's my wife. I have two adorable boys, and I haven't had to change the baby's diaper." He fell quiet and he gazed upon his sleeping baby's face. The expression Raine saw as the redheaded man looked down at his son was one she'd never seen before. The joy that was displayed in his eyes was boundless. The smile was a soft one, but it was genuine. And Raine could tell it was real. But that expression was soon replaced by a sad one, full of sorrow. She leaned closer to him and saw the sadness etched into his face.

"Zelos, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

It took him a moment, but he eventually gave her an answer. "The truth is, Raine, a part of me doesn't find all of this enjoyable. I'm frightened. I-I," his mouth began to quiver, "I don't want to be a bad father as I'm afraid I will be. This all happened so suddenly, and I don't even know these children who are mine. Well, I mean, I do know them, well, actually I don't, but I feel as though I do, if you get what I mean. I don't know how to be a good father, but I want to be a good father. For a while now, I've been wanting to have children, a multitude of them, but now that I do have children, I don't know what to do." He paused for a moment to breathe. "I want to be a good husband, also, but I don't know if I can or how to be one. I don't want to hurt Sheena. She deserves better than this…pile of failure," he said, indicating to himself. "I don't know if I can be strong enough for her when she needs me. Obviously something big happened. Someone or something gave us this confused reality. Or maybe we are all just delusional, and losing our minds." Now looking up at Raine, she could see his eyes start to water. He gave out a sad laugh. "You know, I'm more worried about being a good father and husband, of taking care of this sudden family, rather than the big powerful dude who confused our reality. It's pathetic, right?" He said, ending with another sad laugh. He bowed his head and rested it on his palm.

Surprised by his trust towards her that allowed him to spill out his feelings and thoughts to her, she could only sit and watch his bowed body over his son. On the journey, he never expressed his feelings and thoughts like he just did. He pretty much always wore a mask. But because he chose to express them now, the professor could tell he was taking the whole matter seriously, as he should be. He wasn't playing a game. He was not goofing off. It surprised her, but left her content that her other friend wasn't going to be left alone to take on the whole situation by herself. Zelos was going to be right beside her.

"Zelos," the named man lifted his head a little at the sound of his name, "I don't think you're a failure, and neither do I think it's pathetic. First of all, I don't know where the idea of you being a failure came from, and secondly, a family is a great thing, a great responsibility. Too many families are messed up these days, and are broken. So take your family seriously, okay?" Raine took a moment to pause and see Zelos's response. She saw his head give a slight nod, so she continued with what she wanted to ask. "You love her, don't you?"

At this question, he quickly lifted his head. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Seeing his inability to communicate, she continued. "You loved her for a long time, since before the journey, but you never once told her." Seeing his surprised expression, she had to laugh. "What? You didn't think that I would notice? I'm far more perceptive than you think." Her laughing died down a bit. "You tried hard to hide it, but I could tell. Now go, continue loving her and be the good husband you want to be. And a good father. If you always wanted this, then embrace it, and don't make it so hard like you are doing right now. No one expects you to jump in and perfect the role right away. Just work at it, and do your best. And if you need my help with anything, I'm here for you two, as are the others, I'm sure."

Suddenly, Zelos threw back his head and started to laugh, causing Yuuto to stir in the process.

Taken back by his sudden display, Raine stared at him while he tried to regain his composure. "What was that about? I think you are going crazy!' she remarked.

"No, no, not crazy yet." Zelos said between stray laughs. "I just never thought I would get such a lecture from you, that I would need to get one from you. Oh, what a pathetic display I made."

"Zelos, it's okay-"

He stood up and smiled with the now awake and irritated Yuuto in his arms. "Thanks Raine. Thanks for the lecture." And with that, the redhead quickly grabbed her hand, kissed it, and rushed out of the room.

Raine sat for some moments and blinked after him. "Well, that was interesting," she thought, and she stood up and walked upstairs to her room where Kyrie was napping. She was now in much need of a nap herself.


	7. The Unwanted

"Welcome back," Sebastian said to Sheena and Sen when he opened the back door for them a little after 4 o'clock. Sheena decided it was safer to enter the back way so to escape public notice. The mother and son pair wiped their feet on the doormat before coming in.

"Would you like me to take your bag, Miss Fujibayashi?" asked the butler. Sheena gratefully accepted his offer, and he took the bag from her to put in the living room. She took the small coat off of Sen, she smoothed her Sen's hair as well as she could. Then Sen ran form her hands as soon as she finished and was calling for his father, so that he could show him his fox. "Dad! Where are you?" he called, running around the mansion and sometimes slipping on the wooden floor.

"I'm over here," Zelos called back from the living room where he was already setting out the toys that Sebastian just brought in. Sen rushed towards the sound of his father's voice and came slipping into the living room. "Otosan!" he said as he came to a sliding halt in front of Zelos. "Wook at wat mommy got fow me!" His grin was so large that Zelos literally thought it stretched from ear to ear as he showed him the plushy white fox. "It's sweet!" Zelos replied with exaggerated enthusiasm. And Sen proceeded to show his new friend to every human he could find in the mansion. His brother, Sebastian, and the maids.

"I think he likes it," sarcastically commented Sheena when she came into the room, her eyes following the path of the overjoyed boy.

"Yeah," agreed Zelos, while he took out the last toy from the bag.

She came right by Zelos's side. "So how was Yuuto?' Sheena asked when seeing the baby curled in a blanket on the couch.

"He was a good boy, except for those minutes he kept crying for you." He put his hands in the air, and exclaimed in mock disbelief, "Wasn't I good enough for him!"

Sheena patted him on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure he loves you too."

She walked over to the couch and sat close to the sleeping child. "How'd you settle him down?" she asked in a softer tone.

"Oh, that was easy," he grinned. "All I had to do was tickle him and blow on his stomach. Much better to have him laughing than wailing. And then he soon got sleepy and drifted off to sleep."

"I guess you're a natural, eh?" She asked as Sen came back into the room, hugging his fox close. He climbed onto the couch to sit next to her, and he leaned against her as his tiredness finally was settling in. She hugged him close to her side and laid a hand on the belly of Yuuto. Sheena looked up to see Zelos smiling at her, but nothing was said because of a knock at the door. As usual, Sebastian walked towards the door to open it, but he was interrupted by Zelos. "Wait! Don't open it yet!"

Zelos rushed to the window to see who it was. He pulled the curtain back enough to see the visitor waiting in front of the door. It was the scantily clad woman who had been bothering him for the last couple months. He whipped his head around and motioned Sheena to get out of sight. "Quick, go into another room," he ordered. She did as she was told, but not without casting Zelos a dirty look. She just sat down after walking much of the day while pregnant, and now he was making her move. She picked up Yuuto, who moved a little as a reaction to being lifted, but thankfully kept sleeping, and she grabbed Sen's hand to try and get him to follow her, which he reluctantly and sleepily did.

When Zelos saw her close the door of one of the various sitting rooms, he gave Sebastian the okay for opening the door. In came the woman, and Zelos gave her one of his fake smiles. "Hello, Veronica! What brings this glorious goddess to my home?" He really didn't want her here, He did not like her at all. And he was hoping to make her leave as soon as she came in. He had to admit, though, that she was a beauty with her fair, smooth skin and long, silky brown hair, and she was very well-endowed.

She rushed towards him and threw her arms around him, pulling her body close to him. "Oh, it's so great to see you, Zelos! It's been so long!" She pulled back to look at him in the face with her purple eyes, and she wore a seductive smile. "I was hoping to talk and have dinner with you tonight." She said, then she looked at his chest and began to feel it. "And maybe we could finish it with a delicious desert."

Zelos sweat dropped and pulled away from her. "I know you've been wanting to do that for a very long time, but I don't think tonight will work. Maybe another time, hunny." And he went to open the door, but Veronica quickly blocked his path. Putting her hands on his chest again, she whined, "But why not tonight, darling? Why do you want me to leave so soon?"

He tried to make his way to the door again. "Because, hunny, I have two important guests here right now. Great friends of mine."

"What, you already have other women here?" she quickly assumed, almost digging her nails into his skin.

During this whole time, Sheena stood by the door with a disgusted and slightly angry expression, holding Yuuto close to her chest. Sen, who heard the voice of a person he did not show his plushie too, threw open the door and ran towards his dad and the woman before Sheena could do anything. Sheena started, but then faltered, staying behind the door, and thinking of the best thing to do.

Sen ran up to and halted right in front of them, holding the fox up for the woman to see. "Wook wat my okaasan gawt me!"

Veronica let out an "eep" at the sudden appearance of the child. "Oh my, did you have children with one of these 'important guests' of yours, darling?" She shuddered and backed away from him, acting as though he was unfaithful to her.

Zelos was just as surprised as she at Sen's sudden appearance and ignored her second assumption, but quickly came forth with a response. "Uh, no. This is the child of my friend, but he's not mine," he lied, while ruffling Sen's dark hair. "She's just visiting me."

At this, Sheena came out, but not without handing Yuuto off to Sebastian first, who came by the room on his way to the kitchen. "Yeah, sorry, he's mine. He's just excited about his new stuffed animal." And she walked up to them, and pulled Sen against her.

At the sight of the heavily pregnant woman, Veronica gave a look of disgust. "Hmph, this is your 'important guest'?" she scoffed, checking her up and down. "You sure have fallen low, darling, to be with this backwards country girl."

"Wat does she mean, mommy?" Sen asked, looking up at her with his big blue eyes. Sheena covered his mouth with her hand, Zelos gave her an apologetic look, and she began backing away.

"Hey, sweetie, what about a nap?" she said to Sen and led him up the stairs to their bedroom.

Zelos looked sadly after her. She was one of the nicest and greatest women he met. She was the one he loved the most other than his sister. Sheena did not deserve such unjust discrimination, and same with most people. He could have continued looking at the corner where she disappeared from his view if it weren't for the clingy woman breathing down his neck.

"Come on darling, let's go sit down," and she grabbed his arm and dragged him to a private lounge close by.

"Would you like some tea, ma'am?" asked Sebastian, who held a tray ready with the makings of tea.

"Uh, no thanks," she looked at him rudely, stuck her nose into the air, and tugged Zelos into the room. Once inside the light blue room, she closed the door and turned to Zelos, who was already away from her, standing slightly close to the couch. "Finally, we are alone!" she sighed, and a smile lit up her face. She eyed Zelos down. Zelos did not like this situation at all, and looked nervously towards the door.

"We can freely talk in the front living room, hunny, if you want to so badly" he said. She slowly walked towards him with a seductive expression. "Oh, but isn't this room much nicer," she said, now right in front of him.

"Would you like something to eat before you go? You should really go." The read-headed man tried to evade her as she began to lean closer to him, but she grabbed his shirt. "What's wrong, darling?" she drawled, "You're not acting yourself. Are you now becoming shy?"

Zelos gulped as Veronica's dress began to slip a little, revealing more of her large breasts. "Shy? Me? No, I just think it is rude and inappropriate to do this when I have guests in my home."

"When did that ever stop you?" Her fingers began to fiddle with the buttons on his shirt. Zelos tried pushing her away, but he didn't want to be too aggressive. One by one she worked the buttons until his shirt was fully unbuttoned. He pushed harder and tried to make excuses. "Hey, didn't you want to do this after dinner, hunny?" But Veronica didn't answer. She was eager and being quite forceful.

Zelos didn't want to do anything with this woman. He may not recall the vows he made with Sheena, or being with her romantically at all, but even so, he still felt committed to her now. He only wanted to do this kind of thing with Sheena. She was the woman he loved. And even if he didn't feel this commitment towards Sheena and loved her, he still did not want to be with this woman, who now yanked off his shirt and was not working on the tank top that was underneath, despite his resistance. Should he slap her?

"Now is not the best time," he argued, and put his hands up, but Veronica was very fervent. She had been wanting to do this for months now, and she was quite strong. She pushed the now shirtless man towards the blue coach. She pinned him down on the couch with her leg, and she slipped off her silk dress, which left her only clothed in her jewelry and brown hair. She had planned to do this with Zelos. She forced him down on the couch, and she was now on top of him. Then her lips met his with much force, and he could feel her start to unbutton his pants. Just at that moment he heard a knock and the door opened.

"Zelos, I-"Sheena began to say, but her words faltered, and she stood frozen at the spot, her hand still on the handle. The display in front of her paralyzed the ninja. She thought that Zelos would have had Veronica leave. When she asked Sebastian where Zelos was, he didn't tell her that that woman was still there. It wasn't unusual that Zelos went into this particular lounge. He enjoyed reading in the chair in this room. But now she recalled and understood the look of warning Sebastian gave her as he went by.

The sight of the naked woman upon him shocked her. Now Veronica was looking up at Sheena with a scowl upon her face, but before it was pressed against Zelos's face. Her naked breasts were flattened against Zelos's bare chest, too close to his face. The man who she loved, who was suddenly her husband and father of her children, who was supposed to help her in her present situation, was lying on the couch with a bare naked lady. She knew he didn't like this woman, but still, the sight horrified and greatly saddened her. Without finishing what she was going to say, she quickly turned around, slammed the door, and ran as well as she could while pregnant down the hall. She found the door to the library and rushed into there.

Meanwhile, Zelos stared in shock at the spot where she used to be. Now angered, he pushed Veronica off and onto the floor. He rebuttoned his pants and grabbed his shirt. "Get out! Right now!" he ordered, "Now!" Veronica stared frightened at the seething man who tried to keep most of his anger in. "Now!" he yelled again, and she scurried up, quickly slipped on her dress and ran out.

With her gone, Zelos paced around the room and ran his hands through his red hair. His seething went down a little now that that woman was out of his sight. "Of course that would happen," he thought. "Of course, when something like that was happening, Sheena had to walk in." Right now she needed him, and the event that just occurred was not helping. He did not need this drama. He paced more, trying to cool his anger and lessen his frustration. "That darn, stupid woman!" He sank into a chair and supported his head with his hands. He sat that way for many minutes before deciding to find Sheena. He stood up and went out into the hallway and began his search. Finally he heard her muffled sobs behind one of the doors to the library.

"Hey, Sheena? May I come in?" he asked after knocking on the oak door. He didn't hear her answer, she may not have even heard him. He opened the door and peered into to the dim room. Stepping in, he followed the sound of the sobs. He traveled past two rows of bookcases and found her on a window seat. She was holding her legs as close to her body as she could, her body shaking.

He hesitantly moved closer to her, and as he neared, Sheena lifted her head up. Her eyes were red and tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm…sorry," she said between choked sobs, "I…I...don't know …why… I'm react…ing so much."

Zelos sat at the end next to her feet. He could see her toes curled, catching material of the cushion. He pulled out a clean handkerchief and handed it to her. Taking one of her arms from hugging her leg, she extended it and accepted Zelos's gift. He sat there by her, and waited for her sobs to slowly die down. "Sheena," he began, and she peered over her crossed arms and legs at him. "I'm sorry, I tried to push her away as much as I could without hurting her, but she was very persistent and strong." He looked down at his clenched hands. "I should have used more force. We really don't need stuff like that happening right now. I-I…shouldn't have let that happen."

As he tried to conjure up more to say, Sheena continued to watch him, some tears still escaping. His shirt was not fully buttoned, nor was it fully tucked in. Not all his hair was in the ponytail anymore. The expression on his face was a serious apologetic one. Frankly, the ex-chosen looked pathetic right now. They both did.

"Hey, Zelos," her cracked voice startling him out of his thoughts, "I know that you didn't want that, so don't take it so hard."

"How can I not?" he replied, now meeting Sheena's teary eyes. "Just some hours ago I vowed to myself that I would do my best to help you, to be a good father. Raine even told me to do so, but now I let this happen. And you are here crying like you just lost…lost Corrine again."

Sheena changed to sitting cross-legged, and she held her ankles. "Zelos, stop. Sure you could have pushed her right out of the door at the beginning, but it's still not your fault." Her gaze went away from him and down at her legs. "When I saw you two, you did not look like you were enjoying it. Maybe it was because I interrupted it, but I still believe it was because you did not want to be with her like that. And if you did, I believe you would have been the one on top." She paused for a moment, then continued. "Still, though, it hurt to see you like that." A blush formed on her cheeks and her hands gripped her ankles tighter. "I felt as though I've been with you like that, and it hurt to see you with another woman that way."

Zelos was surprised at first, but then he slowly began to smile at the words she just quietly said and at the blush on her tearstained face that he could still see, even in the dim lighting caused by the closed curtains. He leaned in closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Her breath caught and the blush deepened more. Her heart rate quickened. She sat there in his embrace, stunned, for a few moments, but she gradually drew her legs over the edge of the window seat and leaned closer to him, returning the embrace. Her face was buried into his shoulder.

Suddenly, embarrassment swept over her when she realized what she was doing and what she previously just said. She swiftly pulled away from him and stood up. She's never hugged him like this before, and now suddenly she was accepting his hug willingly. Though she was surprised at the hug first, part of her felt as though they've embraced each other so many times. It confused her. And why did she just say that? Those words came out of her like they weren't her own.

"Ok-kay, thi-this is j-just," she stammered, her face bright red, and she took a deep breath, "getting too weird. Too much in one day." She backed away, and went between looking at the grinning man and random objects in the room. His grinning only embarrassed her more. "I'll just…I'll just take a nap like everyone else," she decided and she hurried out of the room.

"Dinner will be at six thirty!" he called after her, not exactly sure if she heard or not. Even after she left, the grin stayed plastered on his face.

"So, she felt as though she slept naked with me, heh," he quietly commented to himself in the silent room; the only other sound was the that of the grandfather clock. The more he thought about it, the wider his grin grew. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I honestly do not know what to make of this day."


	8. Evening Happenings

Right at 6:30, Sheena came down the main staircase carrying Yuuto and closely followed by a refreshed three-year-old who still carried the fox. After leaving Veronica and Zelos in the entry way, the mother found her sleeping red-headed baby in a new cradle in her room, but now he was wide awake and eager for attention. When she came into the dining room, she found that Zelos, Raine, and Kyrie were already there. Raine greeted her, and the smiling Zelos stood up and walked over to her. "Here, I can take Yuuto." She carefully transferred the baby into Zelos's arms. This whole time she was blushing with memory of earlier playing through her head, which caused Raine to curiously look between the two as they each made their ways to their seats. Zelos sat at the head of the table, and he had Sheena sit on his right, while Raine sat on his left. Yuuto was now in a brand new highchair between his parents, and Sen climbed into his chair on the right of Sheena and put his fox in the chair to his right. After doing so, he directed a big smile across the table to Kyrie, who enthusiastically returned it. With everybody settled, two maids began to bring dishes of food out of the kitchen.

Still curious, Raine asked, "Do I even want to know what happened between you two?"

At her sudden question they both looked at each other, as though telepathically communicating with each other about their response, and then they preceded to look at the food in front of them. "You don't want to know," they said together.

"Well, that's cute," Raine commented, as she started to fill hers and Kyrie's plates with food, "you talk together now." This comment caused Sheena to blush even more and for Zelos to chuckle.

"No, I don't want dat," Sen said, his brow creased and mouth puckered, when Sheena put green beans on his plate. "You're going to eat them," she said back, "if you do, you'll become a strong ninja." He poked at them with his fork, deciding how badly he wanted to become a strong ninja. Then he speared one and quickly thrust it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed the bean with a disgusted look on his face. Meanwhile, Yuuto was happily eating the beans Zelos cut up for him, and Kyrie was indicating to her mother for a second helping already.

Throughout the whole supper, Zelos helped Yuuto eat his food, while he ate his own, Sheena avoided eye contact with Zelos, Sen and Kyrie made faces at each other while eating, and Raine observed the sudden family. Some small talk occurred between the parents, but most of the talking was done by Sen and Kyrie. Sheena and Raine lightly scolded them for talking with their mouth's full, but soon after the scoldings, they would continue talking with food in their mouths. At the completion of desert, Sheena wiped her children's faces clean, and Raine made sure Kyrie's was clean. After that, they resided to the living room where Sen and Kyrie quickly dove into the toys. Sheena set Yuuto on the floor by the other children and then sat on the couch. Raine and Zelos each chose an armchair.

"You to seem to be comfortable with the family already," commented Raine.

"Not in the least," replied Sheena, who was watching the playing children. She then sat back against the cushion and laid her hands on her bulging stomach. "Well, actually, sorta, I guess. Some of it seems to come naturally, but I'm still confused as heck."

"Yep, I agree," said Zelos, who had his hands behind his head and legs crossed. "But even though I'm still left in the dark, this family thing is pretty great, even if it's only been a day," he slightly turned his head to Sheena, "right, Sheena?"

She saw him looking at her, and crossed her arms. "Well, I like Sen and Yuuto, but you? Hmph, that's a different story," she teased.

Zelos feigned a hurt expression and put a hand over his heart. "Raine can you believe her?" he asked while turning to look at Raine, "I even sorta changed the baby's diaper when she was gone."

"Sorta? What does that mean?" questioned Sheena.

"Well, I started to, but then Jill came and finished it." Then he saw the knowing expression Sheena directed at him. "It's disgusting, okay!"

Raine laughed. "You're going to have to do it someday. Emery's changed plenty of diapers. It's not only the mother's job you know."

"I don't see why it can't be," Zelos retorted.

"Don't give us that, Zelos," replied Raine, raising one of her eyebrows. "We, mothers, carry the babies for about nine months, doing all the work, while the fathers get to sit back and relax."

Zelos scoffed. "I wouldn't exactly call it sitting back and relaxing. The men are the ones who are ordered around by the women. And you never know what to expect from a pregnant woman. They're crazy!" Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he could feel the glares from the women, especially the glare from Sheena.

"If the children weren't right there, I would slap you so hard," she said through clenched teeth, her voice quiet enough so that the children wouldn't hear. Though, if she said it louder, they probably still wouldn't have heard because they were so engrossed in playing with the toys.

"I'm surprised you are still alive," Raine said, her arms crossed like Sheena's.

"Well, then, how was shopping today, hunny?" Zelos asked Sheena, quickly changing the subject.

Sheena shook her head at his quick changing of the subject and was annoyed by the nickname, but began telling him, as well as Raine, what happened. When she got to the part with her fight, Zelos bolted up from his chair, "You did what!?" This outburst caused the children to pause their playing and look at him, but they soon resumed what they were doing.

Sheena laughed. "I fought the man, and I brought him down," she said with pride.

"But you're pregnant!" he exclaimed, now crouching in front of her. "You can't be fighting people, while you're pregnant! Especially big, burly men!"

"What? Was I supposed to just let him bully us around? He knocked Sen's ice cream to the ground. Sen was so excited to finally get some. You should have seen his face when that man knocked his ice out of his hands!"

"You could have summoned me with your ninja-y powers so I could fight him."

She smiled. "That's sweet and all, but I can't summon you."

Zelos sighed and sat next to Sheena on the couch. "Just don't do that again, okay."

Raine shook her head, while with a smile of her own, at this display.

The three adults kept talking until half past 9, with only a few interruptions from the children. They finally decided to go to bed when the children were finally nodding off. Raine carried Kyrie back to her room, leaving Zelos and Sheena behind with Yuuto and Sen. Sheena held the sleeping Yuuto in her arms, while Zelos picked up the very sleepy Sen, and they made they made the trip to Sheena's room together. Once inside, Zelos laid Sen on the bed. He lingered for a while longer in the dark room. Sheena, with Yuuto still in her arms, turned on a lamp, and saw Zelos standing there, looking at the small child curled up on the bed.

"You can't sleep standing there, you know," Sheena said to him.

"Yeah, I know." Then he looked up at Sheena, a glint in his eye and a suggestive smile. "But I can sleep in that bed."

Walking up to him, Sheena nudged him with her shoulder. "Now, no you can't."

His shoulder's drooped, and he let out a sigh, "yada, yada." And before leaving, he leaned over the bed, and kissed Sen's head, who moved a bit at his touch. Next he bent down to kiss the one-year old in Sheena's arms. He lifted his head a little and looked at Sheena expectantly. She responded by lightly kicking his leg. He sighed again, and turned to leave.

"Goodnight, hunny," he said, with one hand raised in the air to wave goodbye, as he went through the doorway and closed the door.

With him gone, she placed Yuuto on the bed as well, since she liked him better on the bed with her rather than in his cradle, and she went over to the body length mirror. There, she slipped her kimono off and gazed at her reflection. Seeing her stomach, she felt its smooth surface with both of her hands. She was still not used to its swollen state, nor was she used to the demands it made of her. The thing that she was most not used to was the occasional movements of the baby within. She could feel it move and kick. It kind of scared her, but at the same time, she was fascinated by the fact that a living being was inside her. She stayed that way, in front of the mirror, for a few moments longer, before finding her sleeping attire. Pulling the yukata on, she turned on the ceiling fan, turned off the lamp, and climbed into the bed, exhausted. She pulled the covers up around her, and again, placed her arm lightly atop of Sen and Yuuto. At this, she felt Sen move closer to her, and lay his head close to her chest, with one of his little arms resting on her side.

"Okaasan?" she heard him quietly ask, drowsiness in his voice.

"Yes, honey?" she softly responded.

He shifted his head a little. "Why doesn't daddy sleep with us anymoe?"

His question slightly startled her, but then again, she really wasn't surprised that he would ask that question. She took her hand off of Yuuto to stroke Sen's hair. "Because, honey," she paused to think further, but continued to stroke his hair, "you should just ask him tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," he mumbled, and he soon drifted off into sleep.

Now, in the dark, with only the humming of the fan and the soft breathing of the children intruding the silence, she was left to her thoughts. Many thoughts whirred and danced around in her head.

She was nowhere closer to figuring out what was happening to her and Zelos. Apparently no one so far knew anything and they were all completely surprised and confused as Zelos and she. Something else that puzzled her was the fact that she was twenty-five and no marriage was arranged for. That topic was never brought up to her before, even though all past women leaders of Mizuho were married by her age. Also, Zelos, who was twenty-eight, was also unmarried. She wasn't that surprised that he wasn't married, but then again, she would have expected the king to urge him to get married to his daughter. Nothing was making sense.

Letting those thoughts rest for now, Sheena gazed at the two sleeping forms next to her. She couldn't help smiling at them. They were adorable, and being with them made her happy. She may not like that she was suddenly married, a parent of two children, and five months pregnant with another all at once, it was distressful and exhausting and caused her head to ache, but a part of her was happy. A part of her wanted this. She wanted to be married and to have these children, a family of her own. She wanted to be married to Zelos. She didn't really act like she wanted to, for her stubborn side always seemed to take over when she was around him, but deep down Sheena loved him. But, then again, she was also afraid of those feelings she had for him and afraid to confess them. She was afraid that he wouldn't want her, that he didn't love her. Though these thoughts kept surfacing, Sheena still wished to be able to wake up beside him every morning, to kiss him and for him to kiss her, to be with him until the very end. Right now she pretty much had what she wanted, but she felt as though she didn't have the freedom of choice, neither did Zelos. Zelos didn't tell her he loved her, or ask her to accept him as her husband. Someone did it for them. Or he did do those things, but neither of them remember, and now they both keep their feelings and desires locked up inside of them.

"He must love me, though, right?" she thought, "If he did actually marry me, and everybody including us forgot, then he loves me, or at least did."

She pulled her gaze away from the children beside her and sighed the hundredth sigh that day. "Stop it, Sheena," she mentally scolded herself, a blush again on her face. "Stop thinking too much. You'll probably end up the reason for your own broken heart." But even though she told herself not to, she still found Zelos on her mind much of the time.

She turned over onto her back, but soon found that to be a bad idea, and returned to resting on her side. She couldn't get comfortable in her bed at all. She took an extra pillow and put it between her legs. That action helped, but she still wasn't very comfortable. Also, now that she was in bed she suddenly didn't feel tired at all anymore. Right when she was left in the care of the dark and quiet, thoughts and worries connected to hers and Zelos's current situation continuously flowed in and out of her mind. She remained in this state of discomfort and restlessness until midnight.

Finally, Sheena just sat up and clutched her forehead. She was never going to fall asleep at this point, not without any answers. She needed to get to Mizuho. She climbed out of bed, and in the dark, found her way to the closet. There, she found clothes better situated for traveling, and she put them on. Next, she found a pen and piece of paper, and wrote a note for Zelos. Upon completing the note, she silently crept down the hallway and to his room. Finding his door unlocked, she crept in and went to his dresser, where she left the note and searched for his ring. Not finding it there, she went over to his bed. She carefully found his left hand, and there she saw the ring. She gently pulled off the ring, and left him to his slumber. Back in her room, she packed a bag with her few belongings and some of Zelos's money. Then she secured Sen to her back the same way as it was secured that early morning. Lastly, the ninja took Yuuto into her arms, and she stole out of the house, into the darkness of the night.


End file.
